Abstract
Between 1930 and 1945, Colombia initiated a process of industrialisation by import substitution, but it could not be completed as the industry did not expand enough into exporting. On the other hand, Mexico saw an accelerated industrialisation based on the textile industry, which developed by substituting imports in the 1930s, and was propelled by its exports to the United States during the Second World War.
Why did Colombia not follow the same path as Mexico? The answer lies in that, unlike the latter, Colombia was not able to absorb mass production technology on a larger scale. In this period, Colombia implemented economic reforms, which meant a mobilisation of resources towards one favoured sector: coffee. This fact led to a considerable underinvestment in the manufacturing industry and services.
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- 1.
According to Maddison Project Database, version (2018). Bolt, Jutta, Robert Inklaar, Herman de Jong and Jan Luiten van Zanden (2018), ‘Rebasing “Maddison”: new income comparisons and the shape of long-run economic development’.
- 2.
As the one used by Bergoeing et al. (2002).
- 3.
Gini coefficient taken from Prados de la Escosura (2007).
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Luzardo-Luna, I. (2019). The Liberal Republic, 1930–1945: Overcoming the Great Depression, the Rise of Interventionism, and Economic Slowdown. In: Colombia’s Slow Economic Growth. Palgrave Studies in Economic History. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25755-2_4
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